They are the two magic words which for generations have been the cornerstone
of good manners.

But research suggests today's Britons are no longer capable of saying 'thank you' when showing gratitude.

Instead, 'cheers' has overtaken the expression to become the most popular phrase to bestow thanks.

Forty per cent of those polled said they believe saying 'thank you' sounds too formal, and would rather heap praise using colloquial terms like 'fab', 'lovely' or 'wicked'.

Almost half of those polled said they now use 'cheers' more often than 'thank you', while other popular phrases include 'ta', 'cool', and 'great'.

A third said they would often just resort to a quick wave instead of saying 'thank you'.

Caroline Weaver from the gift company Me to You, which conducted the poll of 3,000 people, said: "While the Great British public might feel uncomfortable saying thank you these days, they do like to show their gratitude in other ways.

"Respondents felt it didn't matter how you thanked someone for their kind actions, as long as you did so in a friendly and polite way.

"At the end of the day everyone knows that a big smile and some form of acknowledgement is all it takes to show we are grateful."

The study found 'lovely', 'nice one', 'much appreciated', 'you star', and 'all right' are also used regularly in lieu of 'thank you'.

Even foreign words such as 'merci', 'dance' and 'gracias' have become more popular than the traditional expression of thanks.

However, despite the trend towards more informal language, two thirds of people described Britain as a "rude" nation and 84 per cent think people should make more of an effort to show appreciation.

The decline in standards manifests itself in the fact that four in ten people no longer send thank you letters if they receive gifts through the post, and the same percentage would not make their children send a thank you either, the study said.